C4 guides

Hands-on walkthroughs for modeling structure. They assume you know what a context diagram and a container are — if not, read The C4 model first (ten minutes, worth it).

The fast way to a full model: right-click your canvas to use the wand. "Wand: all diagrams" scaffolds the entire drill-down tree in one go, turning a list of elements into a complete multi-level model. "Wand: this diagram" populates just the current diagram from its subject. The wand is strictly additive — it never overwrites your work. Learn more.

All screenshots use the built-in demo project — load it from the Project screen to follow along exactly (how).

In this section

1. Create a context diagram — the system in its world.
2. Containers & drill-down — open the box, zoom between levels.
3. Add relationships — arrows that carry meaning.
4. Components & code — the deeper levels, used sparingly.
5. Styling and appearance — customize colours, create display types, set icons.

Where next

• Deployment guides — place these parts onto infrastructure.
• Flow guides — show how the parts work together in sequence.